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A Stinky InvasionHe was broke. Well, almost broke. Petrol Pirate had lost a lot of money listening to Dr. Pollution. He had lost money building air conditioners that ended up being returned and then he lost money when water bottles didn’t sell like they were supposed to. Standing in his warehouse, he saw mountains of water bottles stored and he had no idea what to do with them. Another warehouse was packed with returned air conditioners. Even though he tried to sell them below cost, no one would buy them!
“Dr. Pollution doesn’t care about me. He only wants to use me for his plans. It doesn’t matter that I lose money on his ideas. This time, I will do something by myself! I will go after GreenVille, because they made me lose money!” he fumed.
Petrol Pirate was determined to get his money back. The best way he could get back at GreenVille was to do something bad to them, while making money off of it. As he was contemplating his next move, he got a call from Pol’ Tick Al. “Petrol Pirate,” asked Pol’ Tick Al, “have you heard from Dr. Pollution?”
Petrol Pirate answered him truthfully, “I haven’t heard from him since the water fiasco. I lost a lot of money in that plan,” he said mournfully. “I am going to do something to GreenVille. I can do it without anyone’s help. Just wait and see.”
Pol’ Tick Al was worried because he knew Petrol Pirate wasn’t that smart. He was concerned Petrol Pirate would start something he couldn’t finish. Pol’ Tick Al also thought that things would get out of control with Petrol Pirate in charge.
***
You may wonder how Petrol Pirate had so many businesses if he wasn’t that smart. Well, he inherited everything from his family. His grandfather owned the biggest coal mine and he discovered the largest oil field in GreenVille. GreenVille was completely powered by his grandfather’s oil and coal which resulted in a very dirty city, but a very rich grandfather.
It was around that time that GreenVille decided to switch to renewable energy. Petrol Pirate’s grandfather, Petronius Pirate, II, (Petronius Pirate the Second) was very rich, but since oil and coal were no longer selling, Petrol Pirate’s father Petronius Pirate, III, (the Third) knew they had to bring in money from other sources. Petronius Pirate, III, thought it was best to spread the money out into a lot of different businesses.
Although Petrol Pirate’s family was rich, his whole life was spent having his father ask him why he wasn’t smarter. Petrol Pirate’s full name was Petronius Pirate, IV, (Petronius Pirate the fourth) but his father was so ashamed of him, he shortened it to Petrol.
Petrol Pirate was always at the bottom of his class, to his father’s embarrassment. Any time he brought home his report card, he received a whack on the head. (Poor guy!)
In his father’s final moments (he’d had a heart attack), he was worrying about Petrol Pirate managing the businesses. There was nothing he could do though, because Petrol Pirate was his only child. Therefore everything was left to him. It put a lot of pressure of Petrol Pirate. Here he’d been told how dumb he was his whole life, and now he was responsible for all the businesses. “If I lose all my money, my dad would be so ashamed of me,” he agonized.
Now, Petrol Pirate had a lot of stores and factories to manage. The stores his father had invested in ranged from electronics to clothes and everything in between. Not only did he have the businesses, he still had his grandfather’s coal and oil business – although those weren’t doing very well. He was like his grandfather and father in that he would do anything to make money – even if it meant polluting GreenVille.
***
“What can I do?” Petrol Pirate wondered to himself. “It has to be good!” But to be honest, he had no idea what to do and had a hard time coming up with even one idea. In desperation, he went outside.
As he was wandering along the sidewalk, he saw Water Woman, Hannah Heart and Sandra Sunburn going into the GreenVille Zoo. “AHA! I’ll follow them. They’re really good friends with GoGreen Man, so maybe I’ll get some great ideas!”
As Petrol Pirate was planning his moves, Hannah Heart, Sandra Sunburn and Water Woman were talking about the animals as they walked around.
“I just love nature! Animals are really incredible. Did you know some animals have very special abilities, much better than humans,” asked Water Woman. The others shook their heads. “Like what?” they asked her. Water Woman told them, “Bears can smell food from up to a mile away!” Hannah Heart and Sandra Sunburn were shocked. “That’s amazing!” Water Woman continued, “Other animals like skunks spray their strong scent as a defense.” Hannah Heart wrinkled her nose, “I hate the skunk smell. It really stinks and never seems to go away!” Sandra Sunburn and Water Woman agreed.
Petrol Pirate, who was still hiding behind them, stood still with surprise. He’d just had a brilliant idea. “Ha! They all hate the skunk smell? Well, I think I just found my way to get back at GreenVille! I’ll use skunks.” As Petrol Pirate walked home, he started planning his attack. “I’ll capture the skunks and then release them in downtown GreenVille!”
He started laughing at the idea of all the ladies holding their noses. He pictured everyone trying to chase away the skunks, trying to get rid of them, but of course it wouldn’t work. Oh, he really liked his idea! What made this idea even better is that he could make face masks for everyone to wear to block the smell! He’d only sell them at his Gassy Gal’s Boutique. It was brilliant! For the first time in his life he thought he was the smartest man in GreenVille and said to himself, “If my dad could see me now, he’d be so proud!”
Petrol Pirate was about to have another first in his life, he had to study hard. He needed to figure out a way to capture the skunks, but he had no idea how to do it. The library was the best place to go, but since Petrol Pirate didn’t like to read he didn’t usually go there. He went reluctantly anyway and was glad to find a book about skunks. It said that said skunks liked peanut butter. That was good enough for him! All he wanted was to know how to capture them and since he had that, he made his escape from the library.
Petrol Pirate planned to go to the mountains and capture the skunks by putting peanut butter in cages. He was getting really excited now and couldn’t believe he’d thought of this great plan by himself!
***
In GreenVille, everything was going well. As a matter of fact, GoGreen Man was afraid to relax because everything was so calm. He wished GreenVille could stay like this forever, but knew that as long as Dr. Pollution was around there would always be trouble. It was time to check on the Doomsville area, because he needed to make sure nothing was going on there. When he got to Doomsville, he was surprised to see there really was nothing going on! GoGreen Man was very glad to discover this and felt relieved.
***
A few days later, Petrol Pirate had everything ready to go, well, except he still had to catch the skunks. His masks were ready to sell and were displayed in his Gassy Gals Boutique, with extras kept in the warehouse behind the store.
Since skunks move around at night, that’s when he planned to capture them. When night finally fell, he went into the mountains and put cages everywhere with peanut butter in them. Surprisingly, everything went according to plan! He had no trouble catching them and brought them to downtown GreenVille.
Once in GreenVille, he released all the skunks he’d captured – over twenty! “With this many skunks running around downtown, there’s going to be chaos!” he chortled. He hid the cages and peanut butter in his warehouse and left.
GreenVille’s citizens were sleeping; completely unaware of what was happening in the streets. The skunks were getting into everything looking for food. They got into garbage cans, under houses and even made themselves comfortable in people’s sheds. A big surprise was in store for GreenVille.
***
The next morning, Roger Recycle got up ready to start his day at the recycle plant. When he opened his door, he was startled to see a skunk in his recycle bin. Now, Roger Recycle, as we all know, was a very nice guy but you don’t bother the recyclables! He didn’t like anything getting into them, so he tried to chase the skunk away. Unfortunately, Roger didn’t heed (pay attention to) the skunk’s warning and got sprayed. Skunks warn you when they turn their backs to you and lift their tail.
It wasn’t only at Roger Recycle’s that this was happening, it was all over GreenVille. Everywhere the sounds of “Oh, no!” and “Phew that stinks!” could be heard.
GVTN was getting flooded with calls about the skunk problem. People were in a panic over what to do with the smelly creatures. Many had gotten sprayed and wondered what they could do to get rid of the strong smell. Pretty soon, GreenVille began to smell like a skunk. It wasn’t just one skunk that sprayed, it was all the skunks!
This was big news in GreenVille. There had never been a skunk problem in there before and no one seemed to know what to do. The TV station, GVTN, got a news crew out to report on the skunk. While it was funny to see the chaos that ensued, it was not funny to smell the results! People were getting tired of the smell and wanted something done about it.
***
Petrol Pirate was excited and very proud of himself. Everything was going according to plan! Now that GreenVille was stinky, it was time to bring out his face masks. He told GVTN that he just so happened to have some face masks in stock (available for sale). If anyone was interested in getting one, they should go to his store, Gassy Gal’s Boutique.
Although everyone wondered how the skunks came into GreenVille, no one thought Petrol Pirate had anything to do with it. Well, some did, it just seemed convenient he had face masks ready just when the skunks arrived. But, as soon as they thought about it, they brushed it aside thinking it was a silly idea. A lot of rumors were going around that food had attracted the skunks or they had gotten lost, but no one believed this was a skunk attack against GreenVille!
When Petrol Pirate arrived at Gassy Gal’s Boutique, people were already lined up waiting to get their masks. He was so happy with his success. “I haven’t seen this many people in one of my stores since the water scare!” he chortled to himself.
***
Although people were happy to have masks mask the smell, they still wanted to get rid of the skunks. They didn’t like having so many of the black and white creatures running around GreenVille.
The TV station decided interview Professor Fusionstein and broadcast his ideas on what to do about the skunks. The first thing Professor Fusionstein said was to stop chasing them. He explained that skunks were nocturnal animals, which meant they moved around at night.
Just in case people hadn’t figured it out, he also told them that skunks only sprayed when they felt threatened. “If you come up to a skunk and it turns around and stamps its feet while raising its tail…back away slowly!” he explained. “Their scent is their defense and they don’t like to use it a lot.” Professor Fusionstein went on to explain other facts about skunks that would help keep GreenVille’s citizens stink-free.
***
The skunks were not used to being in GreenVille, much less chased around. All they wanted was to find somewhere to rest – a nice, dark, quiet place. After wandering around, many of the skunks found the perfect spot. It was dark, cool and quiet. Not only that there were a lot of places for them to hide – those places were boxes. Exhausted, they settled down for the day leaving GreenVille in peace and free from roaming skunks.
***
At Gassy Gal’s Boutique, the masks were selling out! They were the most popular item in the store. Since they were running low, Petrol Pirate told his employees to go get more masks. He explained they were stored in the warehouse behind the boutique and told them to hurry.
The workers rushed into the warehouse to get the boxes and brought them back, not knowing there were unwelcome, sleeping guests inside. They brought the boxes in as Petrol Pirate was reassuring his customers that there were plenty of masks available.
Everyone was getting tired of smelling the skunk stink and desperately wanted a mask before they sold out. When the boxes were opened, there were some very surprised and grumpy visitors inside. The skunks didn’t like being bothered or woke up and started spraying. Screams filled the air from all the people in the store, “Skunks! Skunks! Run, they’re spraying!”
Gassy Gal’s Boutique was certainly filled with gas…a stinky gas that wouldn’t go away. All of his customers had run out of the store, all of his masks were ruined and worst of all, Petrol Pirate’s boutique clothes were ruined. The entire store was filled with the smell of skunk spray and everything inside would have be dumped.
This was a huge loss for Petrol Pirate and he realized his plan had failed. He moaned, “I can’t believe this happened! I didn’t think the skunks would come here! All of my clothes are ruined and all of my masks are ruined….now, I’m ruined!
***
Not knowing what had happened to Petrol Pirate, Professor Fusionstein and GoGreen Man were already discussing ways to relocate the sudden skunk population. The fastest way to move the skunks was in cages, so that’s what they decided to do. Since Professor Fusionstein knew that skunks liked to eat at night, he had cages put out that evening, with peanut butter in them.
As planned, the skunks came to eat their free meal. When they were captured, GoGreen Man gladly took them out of GreenVille into the mountains. They were back home. A stinky problem had been solved and the smell was slowly leaving GreenVille. It was a time – and a smell - that would never be forgotten.
Has Petrol Pirate learned from his mistakes? Will he now leave the planning up to Dr. Pollution? What will happen to Petrol Pirate?
